Agenda 02-17-2026; 8-a - Minutes for January 16, 2026 Retreat and January 20, 2026 Business Meeting

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42 1 compilation. This capacity issue often leads to hiring outside consultants or relying on work from 2 groups, raising questions about which experts to trust. 3 Commissioner Greene said the Collaborative used to have a broader mission but was 4 grafted onto serving as the HOME Consortium based on a former Chapel Hill Town Manager's 5 suggestion. She said the Collaborative was meant to foster an understanding of what each 6 jurisdiction is doing to work on affordable housing. She recalled unsuccessful attempts to fund a 7 consultant for a "strategic housing plan" that would have created a coordinated vision. 8 Blake said that staff can do a better job of bringing that perspective when preparing the 9 meeting agendas. He acknowledged there is an opportunity for more collaboration and 10 conversation between municipalities in these meetings. 11 Commissioner Carter said, given the need to understand the various efforts and plans 12 happening in each municipality and the county, and how each is addressing the continuum of 13 housing needs and identifying where the gaps are, the Board should take another look at the 14 purpose of the AHAB and reorient it around the mission Commissioner Greene articulated. She 15 asked if the Board thinks it is the right time to do that and if it would be valuable. 16 Commissioner Bedford pointed out that the members of the AHAB don't have the expertise 17 needed to start or complete that work. 18 Commissioner Carter said part of the reorientation could be looking at the skill sets that 19 are needed. 20 Chair Hamilton said she'd like the Board to look at the AHAB's mandate and decide what 21 to do differently. She agreed with Commissioner Bedford that having non-experts do the work 22 would not be successful, and she pointed out that staff have already done a lot of work on 23 affordable housing issues that could be leveraged. She agreed with looking at how to use the 24 AHAB and the other boards most effectively, acknowledging that other elected bodies would have 25 to weigh in on changing the structure of the other boards. She asked if other board members were 26 interested in exploring other options. 27 Commissioner Greene said she is not in favor of combining the Executive Team with the 28 Collaborative because the purposes of each group are distinct and important. She said the 29 Executive Team was created as a "watchdog" over the larger Partnership to End Homelessness 30 project, and the elected officials who make up that body represent the four funders of the project. 31 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she understands that point somewhat but is supportive 32 of looking at how things are done and why they are still done the same way, and if there are better 33 ways to do it. 34 Commissioner Bedford said the Board needs to have a systems-level discussion about 35 housing in Orange County, and even regionally. She suggested thinking bigger picture about 36 integrated approaches, like the behavioral health task force model, and asked staff to explore 37 that. She said right now, the approach to affordable housing is piecemeal. 38 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said part of what she hoped to learn from this presentation 39 was which board could move forward with the work identified by James Bryan, staff attorney in 40 the County Attorney's Office, which would allow affordable housing to happen here. She said this 41 information was shared by the County Attorney, John Roberts, with the Board in an email. 42 Blake said the AHAB could do some of that work if given specific instructions. He said 43 there are other ways to do this work, but he warned that experts can be found to confirm any point 44 of view. 45 Chair Hamilton said there are economists and urban planners who go back and forth on 46 this issue. She said she hopes the person who is scheduled to come to the half-day retreat on 47 Planning will talk about housing and will be able to answer some of the Board's big questions. 48 She reiterated her concern about tasking general advisory boards with questions requiring 49 expertise, suggesting the board itself needs sufficient understanding to provide direction.